Page 135 of A Tale of Ice and Ash
Eirwen nodded, coiling her hands into fists to disguise the trembling. “Sorry,” she said. “I want to do this. I really,reallywant to do this, I’m just… I’m a little nervous. You have a lot more experience than me and–”
He kissed her gently. “I had to have you beat atsomething,”he said. “Besides…” He cupped her face, and guided it towards his chest, pressing her ear against his heart. It was beating thunderously. “Hear that?”
“Are you nervous too?”
“Terribly. Just because I know what I’m doing doesn’t mean you’ll enjoy it… and I really, really want you to enjoy it. I’m going to try exceedingly hard to ensure–”
Eirwen seized his face and pushed him back against the bunk, her kisses rough and wild. He sighed upon release. “Well, you have that part down, at least,” he said. “Ten out of ten–”
“Stop talking.”
He grabbed her round the waist and flipped her over. “Talking is important,” he said, kissing her neck. “But I’ll keep the conversation to a minimum, if you desire…”
∞∞∞
She lay in his arms after, or he lay in hers, it was difficult to tell. One hand drew lazy circles on her stomach, the other wound through her hair. She felt strange. Worn, tired, bright, confused, different, but above all filled with a new kind of warmth, one she never wanted to let go of.
Cole’s mouth was against her ear. “Eira, I have to go.”
“No,” she whispered, “you don’t.”
“If your grumpy dwarf dad sees me sneaking out of here, he’ll kill me.”
“No, he won’t. I’m the only one that’s allowed to kill you now. That’s the rule.”
“Oh, is it now?”
“Yes.”
Cole kissed her brow. “You’re cute when you threaten me.”
“You’re annoying always.” She wrapped her arms around his waist.
“If that’s the case, why aren’t you letting me go?”
“For some reason, I still like you. Even though you are unnecessarily attractive and you make terrible jokes.”
He snorted. “Unnecessarily attractive?”
“Youknowyou’re attractive, Cole.”
“I do, but it’s nice to have my beauty recognised by the right person.” He seized her face and kissed her, his hands resting on her cheeks for a long while afterwards, staring at her with a reverance that caught her a little off guard. “You are beyond beautiful,” he whispered, his words soft as feathers, “To the world, probably, but certainly to me. I could spend my life searching those underground caverns and never find anything of your ilk.”
“Hmm. You’re right. That is nice.”
“Nice?Nice?That was poetry, my darling! Some of my finest! Appreciate me, woman!”
Eirwen grabbed his middle and buried her head inside his bare chest. “I do,” she whispered. “I do appreciate you. And I… I like you rather a lot.”
“Rather a lot,” Cole sighed. “I suppose I can be content with that.”
Eirwen squeezed him. “Don’t go,” she said. “Stay with me until morning. Just in case… just in case we…”
Cole kissed the top of her head, pulling her body tighter against his. “I’m not going anywhere,” he said. “I could die quite happily in your arms, although if we could delay that by fifty years of so, I’d be very grateful.”
“Fifty… fifty years?” Eirwen murmured. “That’s a long time.”
“Not long enough,” he said. “And you were the one who said no time would ever be enough first, so there.”
